In a legislative letter to the Minister for Legal Protection Fran Weerwind, the KSA proposed certain changes to the law for online gambling.

The government is planning a wider review of the Remote Gambling Act (ROA) next year, but KSA said that such is the importance of its proposals, they cannot wait for the evaluation.

The most urgent points of attention noted by KSA included altering current law to allow the regulator to create false identities to check if operators are complying with regulations. 

At present, only the National Office for Identity Data is permitted create false IDs, but KSA said allowing it to take on this responsibility would enable it to monitor operator activity more effectively and efficiently.

The regulator also called for the laws surrounding the use of data from licensees. Approved operators are already required to submit a selection of their gaming systems data to the Control Database, but this can only then be used for supervision and enforcement.

However, KSA said opening this up to analysis and research will allow it to provide a “solid” factual basis in terms of supervision, enforcement and policymaking.

Points of concern

Meanwhile, the regulator also flagged two other points that it said the government should consider when crafting future legislation.

The first of these was in relation to the Cruks self-exclusion system and the option for players to be involuntarily added to the list at the request of close relatives or operators. KSA said the number of players registered in this manner is so low that there can be no assumption it is helping tackle gambling addiction.

The regulator also said the procedure to involuntarily register players is too complicated and that the six-month period for deregistration is too short.

In addition, KSA flagged how the legislation for land-based slot machines are outdated and “increasingly incompatible” with current regulations and technical developments. As such, it recommended bringing these laws in line with legislation for online slots.

“By tackling these points, KSA will come even closer to a safe and responsible gaming system that properly protects and informs the Dutch player and counteracts abuses,” KSA said.